Frequently, vehicles, including trucks designed to carry a payload, have a maximum load rating for safe operation. Typically, a vehicle can be equipped with an overload sensor that is operatively linked to the vehicle's horn so that the horn will sound if the vehicle's payload exceeds a maximum rating. In other instances, a vehicle can be loaded unevenly, thereby causing difficulties with operating the vehicle if too much weight is on one side of the vehicle relative to the opposite side. In still other instances, a vehicle may begin to reach an overloaded capacity, yet a vehicle operator may have no clear indication that an overloaded state would soon be reached as weight continues to be added onto the vehicle. It can be beneficial for an operator to know that an overloaded state is about to be met before it actually is met so that any necessary preventative steps can be taken.
A need, therefore, exists in the art for one or more sensors that can indicate, in one embodiment, when a payload in a vehicle reaches the maximum safe load weight and, in another embodiment, when a load weight is unbalanced in a vehicle and, in another embodiment, when the load weight approaches the maximum load safe load weight before such load weight is met, and in yet another embodiment, the then present range of payload of the vehicle.